You Don't Choose Destiny, It Chooses You
by xXToxicValentineXx
Summary: Riley Jenson is a bruised soul, after a father who left and younger brother who went missing years ago, she feels as if nothing can heal her. But can a childhood wish that ends up coming true years later actually be her medicine?
1. The Past Hurts

Riley Jenson looked at herself in the small bathroom mirror. Her loose black curls fell down past her chest, perfectly in place. She was thankful she never had to do her hair, she loved it the way it was. She saw as all the girls around her dyed their hair, plat ironed it, got perms, bleached it.. It would ruin their hair, although they never seemed to notice because the excitement of a different color or style would blind them from the split ends, rough texture, and frizziness. She for one, had never put any kind of heat or dye on her hair. If she wanted a different, she found a different, non-damaging way to do it. Wether it be brading it while it's wet, or brushing it out while it's wet and drying it on cold, making it strait. (Yes, that does work sometimes.) She almost never made it strait though, she loved her perfect loose curls. Her mother had been right when she told her girls would pay hundreds of dollars just to hope to get it halfway this beautiful. Her friend Jannet always bothered her, saying she needed to try new things. She always complained, saying if Riley didn't change at least something in her life, that it would be dull and boring until she died.

Riley rolled her eyes at the thought of Jannet's words. Riley's eyes were strange, every guy who wanted her always went on and on about her eyes. They were a blue-ish green, with a darker blue rim on the outside. The thing that was strange about them, is whenever she would get upset about something, wether she be angry or sad about something, they would turn pure grey, the blue rim remaining. She lined them with a medium thick black line of eyeliner. She mascara made her eyelashes get close to touching her eyebrows. She never wore fake eyelashes, she felt her eyelashes were long enough, and if they were any longer she would look.. fake. She hated looking fake, she hated being fake. She is who she is, and nothing and no one would change that.

She'd be lying if she said boys weren't falling all over her, but she chose to pretend like she never noticed. When high school hit freshman year, Carol Briggins, Miss Barbie herself, had offered her a spot in her "group." By group, she means the girls and boys who follow any and everything she does just to have her not make their life misrable. Riley turned her down with no second thoughts, popularity was not the life for her. Even though it decided to follow her close behind without her willing concent, everyone knew and talked about her. Carol vowed revenge, knowing having Riley at her side as a "best friend" would have given her more eyes. Ever since then, Carol went out of her way to try to make life horrible for her, more than anyone else. Jannet said it was because she was jealous, but Riley just figured she was looking for something to do, and Riley had unluckily been on her radar as a target for three years now.

Riley had just turned seventeen less than a month ago. It's been over six years since her dad left her mom, her heart thinking of that morning.. She had been living with her grandparents for five years, because her and her mother had never got a long. Her mother had always been abusive and on drugs since she moved in with her when she was six, before then she had lived with her grandparents. Riley hadn't even known she had a mother, until one day when her mom showed up with a random man Riley had never met in her life, claiming he was her father, saying to get her stuff together and that she would be living with them. Riley was too young to argue, but knew it was a bad idea. Her whole life, she had intuitions about things.

Like she had known when Breezy got sick. Breezy was the dog her dad had bought her when she moved in with them. She was a blue healer, while with dark grey and black spots and speckles all over her. She was beautiful, and so full of energy. She was always bouncing from one place to another, never being still. One morning when Riley was eleven, she woke up with Breezy laying next to her like always. This morning didn't feel right. She looked down at her baby sleeping peacefully, and knew something just wasn't right. There almost seemed to be a dark bubble around her dog. She got up and went into her parents room. "Momma.. Daddy.. There's something wrong with Breezy." Her mom ignored her, but her dad sat up sleepily in bed. "What's wrong with him, baby?" He asked She swallowed. "I don't know, I just have this feeling." Her mom grunted. "Ugh, not this again." She growled. Her dad looked at her mother. "Stop it." He slowly got out of bed, following her to her room.

When opening the door, Breezy ran up to him, jumping up and licking his face. He bent down, smiling. "There doesn't seem to be anything wrong here." He reached over and hugged her. "Honey, it's five in the morning. Try to go back to sleep. I have to get up in two hours." She knew he was wrong, but was glad he at least pretending to believe her. She went back to bed, holding onto her dog. She felt worse the more Breezy licked her, but she ended up falling asleep anyway.

Two weeks went by, and every day Breezy ate less and less. Her parents never menchoned it to her, but she knew they could tell. She came home from school on a Friday, and Breezy was laying in the middle of the kitchen not moving. She ran over and held her in her arms. She was still alive, but barely. Riley was old enough to be able to tell when things were dying. She gently rocked her back and forth in her arms, until she heard a door salm behind her. It scared her, and she accidently dropped Breezy. Her mom had come in the house, slamming the door like always. Riley turned to Breezy on the floor, to see blood puring out of her rear end. She screamed, her dad rushed in, seeing the scene. He picked up the dog and took her outside, Riley cried when he came back in ten minutes later without her baby. Her mom plopped down on the couch, saying "Now look what you did." Ever since then, Riley refused to have a pet. She felt like Breezy's death was her fault, so she felt like if she ever had another pet, she would just hurt it.

Riley walked back into her bedroom. Looking around her room, she immediately felt at ease. The pale blue walls had photos of fish, the beach, and the ocean. Her bed was dirrectly across the room from the door, her bed set was a pacific blue with dark brown lace trimming. There was a shelf nailed to the wall above it, lined with sea shells she had collected. They were beautiful shades of pink, cream, white, peach, and browns. Walking up to her fish tank, she looked around inside for Speedy. She opened the top, reached her hand inside, and began moving the fake logs around. "Ahh there you are baby." She picked up the tiny turtle in her small, pale hand. He looked up at her with beedy black eyes. She smiled.

Her little brother got him just before she turned twelve. He was eight, getting Speedy for his birthday. Their dad had found him by the shore, not able to find his way to the water due to a lamp close to the beach. When baby sea turtles hatch, they use the moon to guid their way to the ocean, this is why they only hatch at night. Speedy had started heading to thw lamp, confusing the lights. He was minature for some reason, never growing any bigger than her palm. Jacob loved him with all his heart, and she did too secretly.

You see, ever since she was little she had a secret obsession for the teenage mutant ninja turtles. She loved them, so when he got a turtle she was excited. She had all the movies, action figures, toys, and every saturday she would watch the cartoon. Looking at Speedy always made her think of Jacob, and the night he was kidnapped. He went outside to take the trash out, and never came back in. She knew it was her fault, because it was her turn to take the trash out, but made him do it. After five minutes of him not coming in, she went outside looking for him, but it was already too late. The police and her parents searched for months, but nothing.

She regretted being so mean to him. She loved him, she really did. But when you're the eldest you can't help yourself sometimes. She sighed, kissed Speedy on the head, and set him back in his tank. She promised herself that she would take care of Speedy for Jacob until he was found. At this point, it didn't seem like that was going to happen. Her dad left shortly after Jacob went missing. She had been at her aunt and uncle's the night he left, she came home the next morning running in the house yelling for him, ready to give him the biggest hug. He never came to get it.

She walked into her closet to find her outfit for the last day of school. She skimmed through the clothes on the hangers, finding her favorite tank top. It was pink, and in black said "Why Do Good Girls Like Bad Guys?" from the song by Falling In Reverse. She slipped on her mint green skinny jeans, then added her batman comic converse shoes. She opened her dresser, pulling out her necklace that had a silver heart dangling from the chain. She gently clipped it around her neck, ready for the day.

She poked her head out of her closet, looking at the clock. It was almost seven, she still had twenty minutes before she left for school. She decided to go through the boxes on the top of her closet, there was only three. She pulled all of them down, then sit criss cross on her closet floor going through them. The first one she opened had all her old songs, poems, and drawings. She made a face as she went through them, did she really use to think she was good at this? She stopped doing this when she moved from Texas to New York with her aunt and uncle at the age twelve. She put the papers and spirals back in the box, and grabbed the next.

This one had pictures in it, and her photo scrap book. She flipped through the book, looking at all the pictures of her, her dad, and Jacob. She had to admit, she was an aadorable little girl. She used to always be grinning at everything, nothing could put her in a bad mood. Now, it was hard just to put a smile on her face for half a second. She began flipping further into the book, her heart stopped when she found the pictures of when Jacob was born. She remembered the day he came home from the hospital well.

He came home wrapped in a blue blanket, she held him as soon as her mom came in the door with him. He was so small, so vunerable.. She touched his cheek, and he looked up at her with those piercing blue eyes. She melted inside, promising him "I'll always protect you." And that's just what she hadn't done. She slammed the book shut, placing it back in the box where it came from. She looked at the last box, half heartedly smiling. It had a lardge piece of silver duct tape across it, and in big black letters said "TMNT."

She flipped the lid off, pulling out all the movies she owened. She had six movies. The first, second, and third live action movies, Shredder Returns, Turtles Forever, and the most recent, TMNT. She set them to the side, planning on watching all of them when she got home. She pulled out the action figures, remembering how Jacob gave them to her on his last Christmas. He was the one who got her into the turtles, but within a month he lost all intrest, unlike her. She hadn't even thought about the ninja turtles since she moved to New York. She placed the action figures in the box, leaving the movies out. She walked out of her closet, shutting the light off and shutting the door behind her. She threw the movies onto her bed for later, and walked out in the wallway to the kitchen.

Her aunt was in the kitchen drinking coffee and on the phone. She stopped to listen. "Yes... We will... I'll ask her, although I don't think she will... I know.. Yes, I'll talk to her... Alright sweetie, bye." She walked into the kitchen after she got off. "What was that all about?" She asked. Her aunt looked at her. Her hair had started turning grey, her green eyes looked into Riley's. "Your mom is really sick, she has been admitted into the hospital for a week down in Texas. She asked for me and your uncle to come stay with her, and I said yes.. She wants you to come too, Riley." She shook her head. "No, I don't want to see her." Her aunt frowned. "I won't make you, and you're old enough and I trust you to watch the apartment while we're gone. We'll be gone before you get home." She got out of the chair she was sitting in and walked over to Riley, kissing her forehead. "You know the rules, only two friends a night, and no boys in the house while no one is home. I trust you." Riley nodded in understanding. "Bye, Poppy. See you in a week." She smiled, then walked out the front door, heading to school.

On the way to school, she put her headphones in searching through her ipod menu. She clicked on Here We Go Again by Demi Lovato for it to play. The sun was just starting to rise, making the sky a deep shade of purple and orange. She would be out of school in two hours, but after school she had to go to her karate lesson for an hour. She was looking forward to it, karate helped her forget the world and control her anger she kept bubble up inside. She was at school after three songs, regretting having to go. Then a thought crossed her mind. _Why even go? _A smile formed on her lips, as she turned completely around, heading for no one knows where.

She walked around the city for the next two hours, watching people. She was good at observing people, guessing how the felt and the emotions they hid. She saw an old man yelling at a baker for his bread being too hard. _His wife died, and he feels empty and lost._ She can't explain how she knew, she just did. Passing him, she began heading for the karate studio. She was there in five minutes. She pushed the door open, putting her bag on the ground next to her. "Riley-san!" she heard a voice yell. She looked to her right to see Sensei Yoli staring at her. "You're four minutes late, what kept you?" She sighed. "I left school late, I'm sorry Sensei." She bowed.

"Oh, you meant the place you didn't go to?" She looked up at him, shocked. "How did you..-" He cut her off. "I know everything, Miss Riley. Let's begin your training." The next hour he was hard on her for skipping school. He worked her harder than he ever had, not letting her take a break half way through the session to take a breath. Once they were done, she stopped, bent over with her hands on her knees. "You are an excillent student." He began. "You are already a black belt, and there is nothing left to teach you. You do not have to return if you wish not to." She stopped breathing for a second, then looked up at his stern face. "But sensei.." "No buts! Why return when there is nothing left to teach? You are the best student I have ever taught, almost better than I. You shall not return, now leave!" He turned, leaving her alone in the training room.

The whole walk home all she could think about was his urgency of her not returning. Why? He had always enjoyed training her. They were close, he was like a father to her. So why did he suddenly want her to leave, to go? She brushed it off, figuring over thinking it would do no good. But one question wouldn't leave her mind. _Was Sensei Yoli hiding something from her?_


	2. Late Wish Granted

Riley had finally made it to her apartment, ready to just relax and watch movies all day. She hadn't plan on anyone coming over tonight, she wanted her first night of summer alone. She had too much on her mind to be worrying about Jannet's boy problems with Chad. Riley rolled her eyes at just the thought of his name. She just did _not _like him, she never had. He was football star of the school, and Jannet was in compition with Carol over him. Jannet and Chad have been dating for barely over a month now, and he already had slept with Carol _six_ times, and that's just what they _knew_ of. Chad had his head so far up his ass, that sometimes he actually got lost in there. He thought every girl was in love with him, he even had tried getting with Riley on several ocassions, even though she repeatedly said no. Not only the fact he was her best friends boyfriend, the most obnoxious guy at school, and had an ego the size of the sun, he was not the least bit attractive to her. He had large features, buzzed hair, and his eyes were just dark brown.

Riley sighed as she opened her front door, throwing her bag on the floor, thinking that Jannet deserved way better. Anytime Riley asked her why she insitted on staying with him, Jannet always replied with "I think I love him.." That's it, she continued to get hurt and cheated on over a guy that she only _thought_ she loved. Riley walked into her room, looking at her bed with the movies on it, realizing just how exhausted she was. She yawned, place the movies onto the dresser next to her bed, then threw herself onto her matress. Her head felt like it was melting into the pillow. She could feel herself drifting to sleep, and she was out cold within two minutes.

Riley was standing in a dark room, she couldn't see a thing. She heard someone whispering, as if they were trying to tell her something without anyone else hearing. "What.. What are you saying? Who are you?" she asked out into the blackness. They whispering began to sound more frantic, she felt whoever it was, was desprate to tell her something. She put her hands out, slowly walking forward. She was looking for a wall, because walls meant a door, window, or light. She had been walking for a few minutes before she became more frantic. She quickened her pace, until she realized that it was getting her no closer to an escape or light. The whispering started again, making her panic. She busted out into a full on run, she wanted to get out of the darkness, away from the whispering. "_What_?" She screamed. "What do you _want_?" She stopped, looking around her, seeing absolutely nothing. There was a chilling scream, and then an extreemly deep, unflattering voice growled from all around her, "Don't trust them."

She shot up in bed, sweating. Her room was darkened a little, scaring her. She jumped up, throwing her light switch up. Light flooded her room, giving her a rush of relife. When she was younger, her mother had gotten mad at her for not making her bed, and locked her in a dark closet for almost two days. Ever since then, she had been terrified of the dark. The dark was the one thing she just couldn't handle, ever. She was panting, triyng to get herself together. She walked over to her window, looking out at the sky that was turning fresh shades of orange, pink, and purple. The sun was setting. _How long have I been sleeping? _She turned to her clock, it was almost nine at night. She sighed, walking over to her dresser to grab the movies.

She shuffled through them, deciding which to watch. After a long and thoughtful debate, she decided on TMNT. The reason she chose the movie was because that movie seemed to nail their personalities, the other movies just seemed to try to make the whole idea of them as a joke, which bothered her at times. She loved the new Nickelodeon TV series, but sometimes got angered by it. From everything she watched, Mikey was always the care free jokester. He was never really dumb, he was just always happy and nothing bothered him. In this show although, they made him seem like a real dumb ass. They made it like he was dropped on his head when he was little, which made her mad because she never thought of him as being dumb, but funny and easy going.

Mikey had always been one of her favorite turtles. He was the comic relife, whenever things were tense and it seemed like an alien soap opera, here would come Mikey saying or doing something hilarious just to piss Raph off, making her fall on the floor laughing. He always cracked her up, never taking anything seriously, well except his hunger for pizza. That was undoubtedly the one thing he actually took serious. She was amazed by his ability to just ignore all the insults his brothers threw at him, and just walk off smiling and laughing like nothing happened.

Her other favorite was deffinately Raphael. She smiled to herself, opening the case to the movie. He was the bad boy of the group, a real hot head. It didn't take much to piss him off, you could piss him off without even realizing. He was always itching for a fight, ready to kick some ass. He was a must love character. He was constantly yelling at someone, or punching them in the face, then running off to play vigulante to calm himself, which rarely worked by the way. She knew if she ever met a guy like him, she'd fall head over heals in love.

Donatello was the brainiac, but she loved him because he was the calmest turtle of all. Everyone would be in a rage, or excited, and he would be sitting there fidigting with one of his newest inventions. She realized a while back the reason she loved him so much was because he was the underdog, the weakest in the group. He was by far the smartest, but not the strongest like Raph. Where the other three would be out fighting, he sometimes was busy hacking some system or messing with some kind of new technology to him, cracking clues and solving problems.

She placed the movie in the DVD player and pushed it closed. She was about to press play when there was a thud on the roof. She frowned, why did they have to live in the top apartment of the complex? Thumps like this didn't happen much, but when they did, it was extreemly annoying to her. She ignored the thud, going in the kitchen to grab a soda. She opened the fridge, looking inside to scope the sodas hiden behind the cool door. There was only cola. She shrugged, this would have to do. She picked it up, shutting the door. Suddenly there was another thud, but this one was much louder, causing her to drop her soda before she even opened it. It busted, spewing soda all over the kitchen and her shoes.

She clenched her fist, growling. She grabbed a towl, mopping up the soda on the floor with it, then throwing the can away. Another sound of various thuds. _Okay, this is enough._ She went into her room and opened the window, cimbing onto the fire escape. Whatever construction they were doing, they didn't have to be so dang loud about it. She climbed the short set of stairs, reaching the top of the building. She was confused to see a group of thugs fighting. She squinted her eyes, trying to see if she knew who they were. It was already dark outside, so there was no look in the seeing department. She quietly moved behind the shed of supplies on the roof, making sure to stay unseen.

Peeking her head around the corner to get a better look. _Why are they fighting on an apartment roof? Why not the park? _She jumped when one thug flew in her dirrection, flying over the side of the building, landing somewhere in the ally below. Her eyes widened. _Okay, so these guys aren't people to mess with. Got it. _Things suddenly got extreemly quiet, and a chill went down Riley's spine. She was getting one of her feelings again. _No, this can't happen.. Not now! _"Where'd they go?" "Did we win?" "They're going to come back, let's scram!" The thugs were all shouting random things. Riley looked around her, then slowly tried to edge her way to the fire escape. She was almost to the stairs, when she heard a deep chuckle from behind her.

"Hey boys, look at this hottie." Riley closed her eyes. She hated when boys called her things like hottie or sexy. "Come on doll face, it's rude to ignore someone when they're talking to you." She breathed in and out slowly. She turned to him. "Look, I don't know who you are, or what you're doing, and I honestly don't care. All I came up here for was for you to keep it down, I'm trying to watch a movie." Her voice sounded a lot stonger than she felt, this gave her slight confidence. She measured the size of the man adressing her, he stepped closer to her. Her eyes widened. He was at least as tall as a bus, if not as wide. I had to focus on breathing in and out, or she would have passed out.

He had blonde hair, tied into a tiny pony tail at the top of his head. She had to stop herself from laughing, his big bulky figured was contridicted by the cute little hair do. He narrowed his eyes at her. "What are you smirking at, you little bitch?" She immediately stopped laughing, and snapped. She walked right up to him, pointing her finger in his face. "Listen bud, you haven't seen bitch yet, but keep talking like that and you will. That's a promise.. _Bitch_." She spit the last word in his face. She knew she was completely stupid, and stood absoluetly no chance against his strength, but when someone called her a bitch she tend to flip out, no matter who it was. He chuckled, and then something unerved her. Something about him seemed oddly familiar..

He began saying something, but she ignored him. She was looking him up and down, until she noticed the tattoo on his left arm. A dragon. Her eyes widened as it hit her. "Wait a minute.." She never got to finish the sentence, when a large first came her way. She dogged it out of intinct, doing a back flip to avoid. She decided since she was already in trouble, to just have fun with it. In mid bacl flip, she made sure to kick him hard in the face. She landed gracefully, looking up into his face. Blood was dripping from his eyes, and he did _not_ look happy. "You're going to pay for that." He spit. Riley smirked. "Why don't you come and make me, big boy?"

Enraged, he charged at her. If she knew one thing about Hun, it was that it was easy to anger him in a fight. He threw punches at her, but she easily avaided them. She jumped into the air, landing on his back. She sat around his neck as he thrashed around, trying to throw her off as she held onto his pony tail. "Please, I've rode horses that buck worse than this!" She was having fun with this, too much fun actually. He almost got a hold of her, but she jumpe back before he could. She was having no problem with him, at all. Yes, he was big and strong, but she was quick and smart. Against each other, she had better odds. That is, unless he got a hit at her.

"Why are you just standing there?!" He yelled at his gang. "_Go get her!_" Uh-oh. She turned around, quickly assuming how many guy there were. Ten.. twenty.. thrirty.. There was over thirty men with him, and her heart stand. Sure, against Hun she was fine. But how was she supposed to fight thirty purple dragons? She got into her defensive stance. "Come and get me." She growled. Five of them charged at her, she smiled jumping into the air. She spun with her legs out, kicking them all in the face sending them flying. When she landed back on the ground, her hopes began to rise. _Did I really just do that? _She caught her breath as more came at her, preparing herself.

They were ready for her to jump, blocking their faces. She laughed to herself, did they really think she was dumb enough to do a constant repeat of attack? She dropped to the ground, spinning with her leg out like she hand in the air, causing them to drop to the gound. This didn't keep them down, it just bought her time to think of a counter attack. She looked around herself for something to fight with, but saw nothing. She began to panic as five more dragons joined the ones that were starting to stand up again. All the hopes she had gained, vanished as she realized there was no hope. Suddenly she was in the air fly, body flying against the shed.

She screamed in agony, she slumped to the ground, feeling like her back was on fire. She looked up at Hun as he stalked over to her. "I told you that you would pay, cunt." She spit the blood from her mouth at his feet, he reared his leg back to kick her when she heard an all too familiar voice yell, "Did someone order for some shell kicking? Cause we're dicing out the orders!" Before she could even comprehend the reality of the situation, she heard a fight break out infront of her. She looked up at the door knob to the shed, and reached up for it. Her whole body was shaking from the pain in her back, she was trying to breathe without the pain getting worse. She opened the door, crawling inside the small space inside. She shut the door behind her, leaning her back against the wall as she lay on the floor.

_What the hell is going on? _Her head was pounding, and she felt dizzy. She came to the conclusion she hit her head when Hun threw her, and that she had at least a minor concusion. She sighed, relifed she knew where her aunts pain medicine was. She lay in there for the next five minutes, fighting sleep. She knew it was bad to go to sleep within the first few hours of a concusion, it can put you into a comma. She was drifting in and out against her will, it took all her strength to stay awake. After a while, the fighting ceased. She held her breath, waiting to hear who won.

"Dudes, where'd she go?" She let her breath out. Her head was spinning, and she couldn't think strait. Her chest tightened, and she coughed to release it. It was extreemly dusty in the shed, she wondered how long it had been since they had cleaned it. _Proabaly never. _"Wait, I think I heard her in the shed." She heard foot steps outside, then the door opened slowly. She realized her vision was fuzzy when she tried to look at her saviors, but saw nothing but darkened blurs. She turned away, the light from the moon was making her head ache worse. "Shut the.. door. Um tryin to sleep.." Her words barely made sense, coming out in random slurs. She felt a big, strong hand settle on her shoulder.

She attempted to brush it off. "No, mom.. I've got a few minutes before I need to get ready for school." She turned over, feeling the same hands slide under her, picking her up bridal style. "She has head trauma, most likely a concusion. She's delusional." Riley laughed. "Speedy needs some food, Jacob." She was trying to get her brothers attention, that he needed to feed his pet. "Who's Jacob?" There was sigh, and then, "Mikey, she doesn't know what she's talking about." Then to her. "Where do you live?" "In my home, duh." She heard a giggle, then turned to the culprit, seeing a green and orange blur. "Aye." She lazily pointed a finger at him. "I got feelings." He began to laugh hard.

Riley looked up at the person who was holding her and saw a purple and green blur. "Hmm.. You make me think of salad. Anyone got salad?" She looked around her, waiting for the answer. "Let's just get er home before she realizes what we are." It was a deeper voice, this one hadn't spoke yet. She put a finger to her lips. "Shhhh, don't tell anyone you're giant turles. They might tell." There was a scoff. She looked up and the purple and green blur. "I.. live in the top apartment. We're right above it." She only told him because she wanted to just pass out in her bed. "Is anyone else there?" he asked. She shook her head. "Not for another week." There was a sigh of relife, then, "Let's take her home."

Riley woke up in her bed, light spilling on her face. She rubbed her face. _Ughh, what happened last night? That was a crazy dream. _When she went to sit up, the pain in her back told her it wasn't a dream. She winced, gritting her teeth. It wasn't that bad anymore, the pain just caught her off gaurd. She caught her breath, then got out of bed. _Ohhh my head is killing me. _She needed some pain medicine to ease the head ache before she could even think about last night. She got up, and slowly shuffled herself out her door, and down the hall to her aunts room. She went through her aunts closet, until she found the holy opiets. _Lord, thank you for drugs. _She took two pills, and swallowed them. She felt the last one wasn't going to go down without a fight, so she went to the kitchen to get a drink.

Walking into the living room, a turtle was sitting on her couch. He turned to her, smiling. "Morning!" She smiled, and waved back. "Morning!" She headed to the kitchen, then stopped wait. _Wait.. What? _She turned around slowly. "Uhm... I.. You.." She couldn't find any words. Was this really happening, did she really have Michelangelo, _the_ ninja turtle, sitting in her living room, watching _her_ TMNT movies? The lump in her throat reminded her why she came in here to begin with. "Uh.. Just a second." She went into the kitchen to grab a soda. She grabbed one, then thought for a second. _Eh, why not? _She grabbed another, and took it out to the friendly turle. She handed him the soda. "Uh.. Here." He took it smiling at her. "Thanks, dudette!"

She plopped down in the chair. Her head was realing, trying to take in what was really going on. "Uh.." She couldn't think of what to say. He looked at her laughing. "Do you say anything other than 'Uh.' Last night you were talking and talking. Hey these movies are great! But I'm not that stupid, I'm offended." He made a pouty face, and she laughed nervously. He turned from the TV to her. "So I'm assuming you know my name?" Riley nodded. "Yes, Michelangelo." He laughed. "Mikey, just call me Mikey." She nodded. _Good, Michelangelo is a mouth full. _She cleared her throat. "So.. I didn't know you guys were real."

"Yeah," he began. "we are. But my brothers don't know there's _movies_ about us. We were fighting Hun and the purple dragons when suddenly there was a flash and boom, we were in Central Park. At first Donny thought we had been sent in a portal to the park, until we went down and realized out home ain't even there. He thinks we zapped into some other demension. Some kind of sci-fy stuff I guess." He shrugged. Riley looked at him, confused. "Well what's so shocking? Isn't what happened to you and your brothers all sci-fy like?" He giggled. "Yeah, I guess you could say that." He turned, looking down the hall. "Ayye! Bros, you're back! And guess what? _It's alive_!" He made a horrified face, pointing at her and covering his face, which made her laugh.

Just then, three more turtles came from her room and into the living room. "Ahh.. The little brat isn't dead." It didn't suprise her that Raphael would say something like this. She made a face at him, crossing her arms. "I'm not a brat, thank you." Riley knew the temper Raphael could pull, and she smirked, knowing that one of these days they would get into it. _It'll be fun to see who wins _that _fight_. Donatello walked up to her, kneeling down to look her in the face. "How do you feel?" He asked. She shrugged. "Eh, my head and back hurts. I took some medicine though, strong stuff." He nodded. "Good, any dizziness?" Riley shook her head.

"The next time you guys decide to fight Hun on my roof, would you do me and favor and try not to be so.. loud about it?" She coughed, turning to Raphael. "You look mad." He grunted. Michelangelo laughed. "Doesn't he always?" Raphael turned and glared at him. "Hey Mikey, you want your face to look the same two minutes from now?" He rasied a fist. She saw Michelangelo gulp. "Mikey.. What exactly are you watching?" Donetello sounded nervous.

Riley looked up at her TV to see her 2007 TMNT movie playing. She cleared her throat. "This is my.. uh.. movie. I got it for Christmas a few years back." They all, except Michelangelo, turned to look at her. "How do you have a _movie_ with us in it?" Donatello was looking her dead in the face. She laughed. "Try a movie _about_ you. It's called TMNT, it's one of the many movies about you, but one of the few good ones, I must say." She realized by their faces that statement didn't help. Donatello turned, watching the TV with a look on his face.. _Is he.. scared?_

"Who are you, and how do we know we can trust you? You could be working for Hun." Riley's head whipped up, looking dead in his face. _God, such a Leonardo thing to say. _Truth be told, she never really liked the blue masked turtle. He always had this attutide like he ran the show, just beacause Splinter made him leader. She could understand why Raphael alwats got irritated with him telling them what to do. _I would too. _"First off," she began, "even if I did, I wouldn't after him trying to kill me. Second, obviously if I have these movies that means I like you guys, well I can't speak for all of you." She narrowed her eyes at him, to inform him she was talking about mister big and blue himself. The look he gave her almost made her regret it, but she held her ground. This was _her_ house, after all.

"I don't care if you have a problem with me." He had a completely strait face. She snorted. "Good, cause I never said I did. You just assumed that." He was about to say something else, but Donatello interupted him. "Leo.. I was right, we are in another demension.. But, somehow we ended in a world where we're characters on a TV show and movies.." "Don't forget comics." Riley added in. They ignored her. "So whater we gonna do?" Raphael asked. "We ain't got no home?"

Riley cleared her throat. "Well.. I mean, you could stay here for the week if you want.." They looked at her. Michelangelo ran up to Leonardo, getting on his knees with his hands cupped together. "Please! Pleasepleaseplease, Leo! Pleaseee!" Leonardo just stood there, then looked over at her. Then they all did. She suddenly felt extreemly self concious, realizing her child hood idols were in _her_ apartment, _talking_ to her. She pulled at her clothes, waiting for a response. Leonardo just stared at her. "If you look at me any longer, your eyes will get stuck. You got a better idea, fearless?" He was taken aback, no one had called him that but Raphael. She saw Raphael smirk, trying not to laugh. All her fears of them fighting melted away, realizing they shared two things in common. Anger problems, and the fact the resented Leonardo's need to be the boss of everyone.

"She has a point, Leo. We had to sleep in the park the past week." Leonardo whipped his head around to Michelangelo. "I didn't ask you, Mikey." She saw the hurt in Michelangelo's eyes, and stood up and walked over to Leonardo as she had done to Hun the previous night. "Yeah, well you got his opinion anyway, and you're about to get mine. You're so damn concerned with wether you should trust me or not? If I was going to have anyone hurt you, you'd be gone already. Second, quit acting like you can just boss them around, they're their own person, damn it! And third, quit acting like an ass. You're getting wrose than Raphael." He stood, speechless. She stalked past him, going to her room.

She slammed the door behind her. _God, he's worse in person._ She went into her closet, and grabbed some underwear, a bra, some blue jean shorts, a black tank top, and a towel. She crossed the hall into the bathroom, not bothering to check if they were still there. Locking the door behind her, she set her clothes and towel on the counter, turning on ths shower water. She quickly stipped herself from her clothing, then got in. The warm water instantly eased the pain and tension in her back and neck. If she had been home alone, she would have moaned in pleasure, but have four teenage boys in her house, if they heard they would no doubt think the worst, assuming she was doing nasty things in the shower.

_ How did this even happen? _She wet her hair, then scrubbed her vanilla shampoo into it. _Five years ago, I would be jumping in joy at this, but I dont care too much for them anymore. I mean I do, it's just not a big deal. _Rinsing the shampoo out, she thought more. _Was it the wish I made on my 12th birthday, to get to meet them? It can't be, I learned wishes don't come true._ She rubbed the conditioner into her hair, gently massaging her scalp to help the head ache. _This one _had _come true. But why? _And she let the conditioner sit, she scrubbed her body with her coconut butter body wash. _I wished that five years ago, if God decided to make it come true, why did he wait until now?_

She sighed, rinsing the body wash and conditioner off of her. She turned the shower off, wishing she never had to leave the warm escape. She dried her body off with the towel, then put her clothes on. She towel dried her hair, gently squeezing from ends to roots. She finally decided it was time to go back out there and face the turtles. She was about to open the door when she heard them talking. "I dunno, I kinda like 'er." She heard Raphael say, which made her blush. _Oh, boy.._ "You only like her cause she's just like you, hot headed and stuborn." Leonardo replied. She rolled her eyes. _Killjoy._ "I think we should take her offer, Leo. It'd be nice to sleep in a house, on a bed or even the floor for all I care, than in a tree." Donatello said. Leonardo snorted. "Yeah Leo, it was raining the other night!" Michelangelo piped in. "We're turtles, we can deal with water." She'd heard enough, opening the door and walking into the living room.

"Well you boys are welcomed to stay as long as you want." She turned to Leonardo, adding, "You don't have to if you don't want to, you can go sleep in a tree. I wouldn't want to make you sleep in a house with warmth, beds, blankets, a TV, food, and soda. That would just be _awful_." She made sure to add a disapointed face at the end, to add to the sarcasm. He narrowed his eyes at her. She shrugged. "Just sayin', fearless. You don't have any better options." He looked down, then sighed. "Fine." Michelangelo jumped up in excitement.

"This calls for pizza!"_  
_


	3. Secret Pain

Riley sat on the roof, knees up to her stomach while she stared at the moon. _Why? Why me? Why did this have to happen to me, of all people? _The turles were great to her, yeah, but Leonardo just got on her nerves. When she informed them that she would be on the roof, he scolded her saying she needed to stay inside after dark because it wasn't safe. She got in his face, telling him to mind his bothers and not her, that she wasn't his responsibility. And she wasn't, thank God. She shuddered at the thought of being told what to do by Fearless, himself. Her phone vibrated in her pocket. She quickly pulled it out to see a text from her aunt.

** Hey sweetie just letting you know we got off the plane and to the hospital safely. It's not looking good.. **

She swallowed, regretting not going for half a second before continuing to read.

**It might be a little longer than a week, they aren't sure what's wrong with her, but they said it isn't good. Keep me updated! And take care of my house, and you better make sure you're uncle doesn't find out that you invited boys over, love you ;-)  
- Poppy**

Riley smiled, her aunt didn't know if she had boys over or not, she was saying that to let her know they can, but if her uncle found it, that it was all on Riley. She immediately began thinking of her mother, who was in a hospital bed dying halfway across the country. She considered going to her, knowing her aunt would pay the ticket, but remembered the boys downstairs. _They need me.. They have no where to go, no protection, and Hun and his men are after them. No doubt he'll get more dragons soon enough. _She never thought this would actually happen, giving shelter to the four mutant turles she grew up idolizing. She told them that they could sleep in her room, and the guest room. She would have taken her aunt and uncle's room, but her aunt would notice if one thing was out of place and begin questioning her. Besides, Riley didn't mind sleeping on the couch.

She pulled her notebook from next to her and the pen she brought, ready to write. She had too many thoughts and emotions flowing through her. She thought for a moment, staring at the moon for advice, letting it be her muse. After a few quiet, thoughtful moments, she wrote some words onto the paper.

_Darkness surounds me, there's no more light left  
The feelings escape me, as I fight for my breath  
I'm drowning inside my sea of dispair  
The worst part about it, is that nobody cares  
Nobody sees the smile that hides  
The tears that I shed, the pain deep inside  
Followed by heart ache of the ones that I trust  
Pushing them away, it's always a must  
Getting close and learning to believe  
Is the moment they realize that they want to leave  
I've learned this lesson from one man, I know  
But that was enough, so I learned to let go_

A tear fell down her right cheek as she wrote the last line. Poems like this came to her naturaly, it was truely the way she felt inside, although she would never show it. She always hid her emotions with a briliant smile, or a flip of her hair. On the outside she seemed like a confident teenage girl, she should be. Guys were falling all over her, but confidence was one of many qualities she lacked. She had trust issues, major trust issues. Her dad had killed any thought she ever had about having a boyfriend. If she ever began to spring any feelings for a boy more than friendship, she would push him away. She refused to let another man hurt her. If her own dad hurt her, what would stop someone else? "I see you're alone.." A deep voice whispered. Her heart stopped. "Grab her!" The next thing she knew, multiple hands were around her arms and legs, holding her down as she glared into the face of Hun once more.

Leonardo sat in the living room with his brothers while they watched more movies about themselves. "My attitude ain't that bad." Raphael growled. "If you say so, bro." Michelangelo laughed. He cringed when Raphael threw his fist up. "Wanna run that by me again, Mike?" "Case and point!" Michelangelo cried as he cringed behind his own arms. "Knock it off!" Leonardo spat at them. Donatello lifted his head up from the laptop Riley had let him barrow. "Leo!" Leonardo returned the glare for a few seconds, then his face relaxed. "I'm sorry.. I just don't know what to do.." He trailed off. Donatello blinked at him. "Just leave it up to me." Leonardo turned to him, with a half-hearted smile on his face.

He was so stressed right now. They were in a world where they knew no one, except Hun. They had no idea where Master Splinter was, Donatello explained that he thinks it was only the people inside the light that were sent in this demension. He sighed. All he ever wanted to do was protect his brothers, lead them to be better fighters, keep them safe. He failed to do that exact thing, he had let his master down. And then this Riley girl shows up, throwing more attitude with him than Raphael normally did. He snorted, she had some nerve. And telling him she didn't like him? Good, that feeling was mutual.

He had to admit though, she could fight good. He wanted to talk to her, ask her where she learned her moves. He didn't though, figuring she would just glare at him and ask him why she should tell her. He had a feeling they would never have a decent conversation together, so he tried to just push the thought out of his head, but he just couldn't do it. He continued to see her moves repeating in his head, she was trained by a real minjitsu master, not the fake kung-fu wanna be stuff that most people pay hundereds of dollars for. He smirked, what a waste of time.

He decided there would be no harm in going to the roof just to ask her, he may even apologize just so he could get it out of her. Leonardo stood up, informing them he was stepping outside for a stretch, and that he would return shortly. He quietly made his way into Riley's room, so he could climb through the window. He noticed the window was still open, so he stepped out onto the fire escape. He was about to climb up, and stopped dead in his tracks when he heard Hun speaking.

"Where are they?" He was asking her where he'd find him and his brothers. Leonardo waited to hear her reply, this was the moment of truth. "I don't know.." she choked out. "I don't even know who you're talking about. I passed out after you threw me onto the wall and woke up today in my bed." She was lying to him. _Good. _"We'll try this again, where are the turtles?" Hun asked again. Riley scoffed. "I don't know, and even if I did, I wouldn't tell you. You _did_ try to kill me, you know?" Leonardo poked his head over the edge to see what was going on, Hun had five men holding her down, and it looked like they were having a hard time. Hun sighed in frustration. "Tell me where the freak mutants are, and we won't hurt you!" His patience was running thin.

Suddenly Riley somehow pulled all five men off herself, and pushed them away. One of them droppd a knife in the process, and she bent down to pick it up. She walked right up to Hun, putting the knife to his throat. "Don't you _ever_ call them that again, got it? Or next time I ride on your back, this little baby will be deep in your throat, and trust me, I _won't _think twice about it." There was fire in her eyes, Leonardo could see it from his distance, even in the dark. Damn, she was fiery.

"So when we gonna go help her bro?" Leonardo looked down to see Michelangelo and Raphael looking up at him. He looked back up to see Riley still pointing the knife at Hun, unaware more dragons were closing in behind her. One had a knife out, raising his arm quietly, getting closer to her. He noted where his aim was going, realizing in alarm he was going to cut her throat. Leonardo narrowed his eyes.

"Now."

Riley glared into Hun's face, fury raging inside her. _How _dare _he?_ She took another step to him, watching him grin at her. This in turn made her more angry. There was thuds and groans behind her, and Hun's face turned from a smile into anger. Riley didn't dare turn around, letting him have his chance. "You're mine, Hun." She growled. He'd gone too far. She may have only met them last night, but they had grown up as a part of her. It felt like he had insulted her family, and that hurt her heart.

She suddenly saw someone run up next to her, and turned to see Leonardo. She grunted. _Why him? He's just going to show off how he's mister fearless, leader of his brothers. _He turned to her, seeing her glare at him. "I'm try to help you!" He offered. "I don't need you're help, I can handle him." She hissed. He shook his dead, while dodging an attack from Hun. "Oh, you mean like how you handled him yesterday?" Riley crossed her arms at him as he slices his katanas at Hun. "It was a minor set back, all part of my genius plan."

She saw him roll his eyes. "Go help Mikey!" he shouted at her. She was going to object, when she turned to see the friendly turtle was surounded by twice as many dragons than either other turtles. Riley spit, hissing in frustration as she ran over to him, knocking a few dragons out of her way. Finally, she was standing next to her strugling friend. "Need some help?" She asked, dodging punches while kicking in mid air. He didn't look away from his attackers. "You have no idea!" She laughed as they continued to fight the dragons off.

She heard a loud crack, causing her attention to go to where the noise came from, to see Hun standing alone, Leonardo lying nearly ten feet from him, slumped against a wall unconcious. She cursed to herself. _That's what he gets for trying to show off._ Hun looked around, realizing his dragons were losing, and yelled "Dragons, fall back!" Like someone pressed a button, they turned and ran after him. Riley hadn't even caught where they went.

The three brothers were by their unconcious leader in an instant, Riley slowly following behind. She watched as Donatello checked the dialation of his pupils, his vital signs, all the basic. He sat up. "He's got a pretty bad concusion, he can't leave Riley's for at _least_ a week." He turned to her. "You're in charge of making sure he doesn't leave when we're out patroling." Riley threw her arms up. "Yeah right, like he'll even listen to me!" She crossed her arms.

Donatello picked his brother up gently, caring him back into the apartment. He walked over to her bed, laying him across it. "You don't mind, do you?" Donatello asked her politely. She shook her head. "No, not at all." He nodded, whiping the blood from Leonardo's head with a wrag. Riley left the room, going into the living room to watch TV with Michelangelo. A few minutes later, Donatello walked in the living room. "Riley," he began, she turned to face him, " We're going to leave in about an hour, giving the dragons time to leave this area. We're going to scan the sewers, city, and the cities outskirts to see if there is anything that can help us, even a temporary home." Riley nodded. "Do what you need to, Donny. I'll watch Fearless."

Donatello nodded. "He will probably wake up before we get back. He'll be delusional, keep an eye on him for me. Please." Riley nodded, secretly hating the idea. _I can't stand being around him with all of them here, much less just him. This is a very, very bad idea.  
_


	4. Secret Phone Call

Donatello looked Riley in the eyes. "Are you sure you can handle him?" He was refering to the fact that Riley and Leonardo couldn't seem to get along, for Riley's lack of informing them why exactly she had a problem with Leonardo. Riley crossed her arms, returning his gaze. "Yes, Donnie, I'll be fine!" He smiled at her. "Okay, but knowing Leo he's going to try moving around as soon as he wakes up, don't let him. Keep him in bed at least until we get back." Riley nodded. "I'll try my best." Michelangelo walked up to her, putting his hands on her shoulders giving her a grave look. "You're a brave soldier!" he croaked out, making Riley laugh. She shooded them off to do their patrol around the city, sectrely hoping they would return sooner than planned.

Donatello and his brothers were gone seconds later, leaving Riley alone with Fearless. She turned to look at his unconcious body laying across her bed. _He's a lot more tolerable when he isn't giving out orders. _Walking out of her room, she turned to the living room and slumped her herself across the couch. She was breathing in and out, trying to grip the situation she was in. Okay, the first thing that happened was Hun and the purple dragons, then the turtles came from know where and really kicked some ass. Then she wakes up in bed, and goes to her living room to find Michelangelo watching her TMNT movies. Now, they're all staying in her house until they find some where to stay until they can get back home. On top of everything else, she has the fearless Leonardo in her bed unconcious. She rolled her eyes at that.

There was a vibration in her pocket, and she slid her phone out to answer it. "Hello?" "Hey sweetie, is Jannet with you?" "No, I haven't had anyone over since you left. Just wanted to be alone, I guess." "Are you sure?" "Yes, Poppy. I'm sure." "Really? Because the neighbors say they've heard multiple boys voices from the apartment." "Oh! That's just my TMNT movies, Poppy. I've had the volume up a little loud, you know how I am when I'm here alone." "Oh, back to those old cartoons again?" "I couldn't help it, Poppy. You could say they came to me this time." Riley laughed at her own insider to herself. "Alright baby, well we're about to get on the plane and come home. We'll call you when we get to the airport at home. Alright?" Riley said okay, then got off the phone.

She layed her hands behind her head, stretching herself out. She realized how tired she was, getting ready to take a nap. She began closing her eyes, but then popped them back open. She needed to be awake when Leonardo woke up so he didn't run after his brothers. She cringed at the thought of Donatello yelling at her for not watching him. She layed on the couch for a few minutes, relaxing. After a while, she got up with a grunt, heading to her room to babysit the over grown turtle.

The first thing Leonardo was aware of was how bad his head hurt, the pain was almost unbareable. He groaned, opening his eyes slightly. He was in a pale blue room, looking around, he realized it had an ocean theme. _Where am I? Where's my brothers?! _Leonardo shot up in bed, making his head hurt worse. He winced at the pain, but pushed it to the side. His mind was completely on his brothers, until everything because all blurry and he felt like he was flying. He tried to get words out, but they sounded like gibberish.

Riley stood staring at him, wondering if he had died and come back as a zombie. She raised an eyebrow, wondering what she should do. She noticed he had a hand on his head, and ran into her aunts bedroom to grab two pain pills. She returned shortly, worried about leaving him alone for too long. He was still sitting up in her bed, cross eyed and making no sense. She handed him the pills and the water bottle sitting by her bed. She gently placed the pill in his three fingered palm, and said, "Here, take these. You'll feel better." He looked at her, and did as she said. He drank the whole bottle in three gulps. _Damn, he must have been thirsty._

After a moment, he looked at her. She saw his eyes were droopy, he wasn't fully awake. He was trying to say something to her, but she couldn't make it out. After a few failed attempts, she layed his body back against the bed. "You need some more rest." He was still trying to say something, and she could only understand one words. Brothers. She realized what he was asking. "Donnie took Raph and Mikey to scout the city to see if there's anything resourceful around the city." His eyes got wide, trying to sit up again. She pushed him back down. "Don't worry, they'll be fine. They're going to stay low, no fights. It's mearly just looking around. They'll be fine."

He still looked unsure, and then he said the first sentence that made sense since he woke up. "They need me." His eyes got wet, and he started to cry. Riley had to fight back from laughing, because she knew he was only acting like this from hitting his head. "Stay in bed, fearless. You'd be no good for them right now anyway. If anything, you'd get in their way." She placed a blanket over him, seeing his wet eyes get droopy. The medicine was kicking in. He slowly went back to sleep, his sobs getting quieter and quieter.

Riley couldn't help but take in how adorable he looked, laying in her bed crying like a baby after hitting his head. _It just.. It's so not _Leo. She laughed, quietly walking out of her room, sure not to wake him up. She thought for a moment, then realized he would probably be hungry when he woke up agian. She smiled, making her way to the kitchen. If there was one thing she knew about these turtles, it's the fact they don't like having an empty stomach.

A few hours passed by, and Riley decided Leonardo would be waking up soon. She checked the time, 2:34 in the morning. She opened the cabinets, looking for something to cook. She smiled when she saw the box of Bisquick. Pancakes it is. She pulled out a bowl, eggs, skillet, and milk. She mixed the contents into the pink bowl, then poured the first liquid pancake into the skillet. She had just finshed cooking the first, setting it onto a plate with her spatchula, when she heard feet shuffle behind her, and a chair being pulled out. She smiled, saying "Good morning, Dicaprio."

She turned to see Leonardo sitting down in a chair, giving her a strange look. "Dicaprio?" She laughed. "It's a funny story." she turned back to the second pancake she was making, flipping it. "When I first started watching ninja turtles, I had the biggest crush on Leonardo Dicaprio. When I found out your name, I flipped out thinking you were named after him. So for two years, until I learned where you _really _got your name, I called you Dicaprio. Leonardo was just too complicated for me to say at a young age." She set the second pancake onto the plate, then poured the batter for the last pancake into the skillet.

He looked at her, confused. "Why didn't you just say Leo?" She smirked. "Where was the fun in that?" He frowned. Riley set the last pancake onto the plate, grabbing a fork, butter, and the syrup, and walked over to him, setting them in front of him. "Here ya go, you need to eat. That pain medicine will hurt your stomach." She handed him two more pills. He looked up at her taking the fork. "... Thanks." She walked over to the fridge. "What do you want to drink?" "Water." She laughed, taking a bottle and walking it over to him. "I see you're back to your old self." He took the bottle, not looking at her. "What's that supposed to mean?" He asked as she sat across the table from him while he began eating.

"You were acting... weird.. the first time you woke up." He looked at her for the first time since she'd handed him the food. "Oh, how so?" Riley almost started laughing but stopped herself. "Well, uh.. You kind of started.. crying." He dropped his fork, then glared at her. "I.. _what_?" Riley returned the glare. "_Crying, _Fearless. The water that comes out your eyes when you're upset." He didn't say anything at first, then whispered "I don't do that in front of people.. I'm.. sorry." Riley scoffed. "That's a first."

He glared at her again. "What's your problem with me, anyway?" He demanded, his voice throwing a little emotion in it for the first time since she met him. She raised an eye brow. "Hmmm, where should I begin?" He gritted his teeth. "Spill it, Jenson." Riley shrugged. "Well, I suppose I should show you, it'd be easier."

She led him to the living room, turning on her TV on demand channel, going to her TMNT section. She showed him seens from the TV shows of him bossing his brothers around, telling them what to do. She even showed him the episode of the 2003 animated series where he got into a battle with Master Splinter, slicing his masters fore head. She looked over at him during this scene, waiting for a reaction. Nothing, he sat like an emotionless rock. She sighed. "I didn't always hate you, honestly. I really liked you at first. In fact, I'd have to say you were my favorite."

As she was saying this, the other three turtles came in the living room window, quietly listening to her speak. She waited, then continued as she put in her TMNT movie, fast forwarding to the part where him and Raphael get into an arguement. She knew he had gone through this, because they had come from this movie. She paused, before playing. "I began disliking you when I saw how much of a.. push over you were. And Raph had you right, a Splinter junior." He looked up at her, still emotionless, as she continued. "I agreed to myself that I would just put up with you, I still didn't hate you yet. This scene, _this_ is what made me hate you." She pressed play.

Raphael tensed as Michelangelo and Donatello watched closely. Her guess had been correct, this had happened. She let the scene play, let the brothers soak it in. She began listening herself. "Whoever said I wanted to be _lead_? I'm better off calling my own shots now, _get_ used to it!" Raphael spat. "_You_ aren't _ready_. You're impatient, and hot tempered.. And more importantly.. I'm _better_ than you." Raphael snickers, pulling out his sais. "I'd have to disagree with you on that one." Riley stopped the video, turning to the ever remaining emotionless Leonardo.

"_That_, is the reason I have a problem with you." She glared at him. "You think you're better than your brothers, you think you can tell them what to do like a parent, and that they _need _you. And you think this because Splinter made you leader, and you're eldest. They do need you, Dicaprio. They need you as their older brother, _not_ their boss. And you just can't see that." He was looking at the ground not saying anything, his expression blank as always. "Told ya she thinks like me." She heard Raphael snickering to his brothers. Leonardo shot up, glaring at him. "Can it, Raph!" He spat.

Riley walked forward, pushing Leonardo. He turned to her as she challenged him. "Oh no, don't take it out on him. _I'm_ the one calling you out here, _Leonardo_." He looked her in the eyes. She saw flames in his amber eyes, they were glowing with anger, yet he refused to let it show. He refused to let his anger out, he hid it inside. And that was his problem. "Admit it," she spat. "Your temper is just as bad as your brothers, you just hold it in, trying to be better. That's all you do, is try to be _better _than them. Than anyone!" The flame in his eyes grew brighter, but he stay unmoved and silent.

She growled at this. "Come on, I can see how pissed you are! Your eyes give it away! Let it out, Dicaprio! Your _father_ isn't here to tell you otherwise." His chest was heaving as she added the last part. She laughed to herself, seeing just how hard he was trying to keep all his anger inside. "What do you want from me." It was barely louder than a whisper. Riley cupped her hand to her ear. "Oh, what was that Dicaprio? I couldn't hear you, could you say it louder?" Donatello looked at her with a worried look. "Um.. Riley I wouldn't.." "I said _what do you want from me_?!" She drew her hands into her fists. "I want you to show some damn _emotion _for once that doesn't have to do with _damn_ ninjitsu!" He practically screamed it, shoving his whole body at her, throwing her to the ground.

She landed on the floor, back against the enteraintment center her TV was on. She smiling. _Good, we're getting some where here. _She stood up. There was a pain in her arm, but it wasn't too bad, so she brushed it off. "You want emotion? _There's_ your emotion." And with that, he was gone to the roof. Donatello went onto the roof, obviously to calm his brother. Michelangelo just sat in the chair, not knowing what to say. Raphael plopped himself on the couch.

"I have to say I'm impressed, I ain't never seen nobody tick him off that bad. Well, cept me of coarse." Raphael grinned at his own words. Riley rolled her eyes. "It wasn't a matter of pissing him off. It was a matter of showing him it's okay to get mad sometimes. He holds it in, that's not good." Michelangelo looked up, finally saying something. "Bro, does it bother you that she knows more about our brother than us?" He was adressing Raphael. Raphael shrugged. "She ain't telling me things I don't already know."

Riley sat at the kitchen table, happy with herself. She'd finally showed Fearless what it's like to let his anger get the best of him. Sure, Raphael had done it plenty of times. But it's different when you get mad at a sibling, and mad at a complete stranger. She frowned. Was she a stranger, or did they consider her a friend. Leonardo sure didn't after this.

Donatello jumped onto the roof to see his brother punching the shed. "Leo.." He didn't know what he was going to say, there was nothing _to _say. Leonardo turned to him. "Don't. I don't want to hear it." He growled. Donatello narrowed his eyes. "Yeah, well you're going to. You need to _calm_ down." Leonardo grabbed his katanas from his shell, and threw them on the ground. "How can I be expected to stay calm, when there's a girl down there who drives me crazy worse than Raph!" He was looking at his brother, secretly pleading for help on how to control his anger.

Donatello walked up to him slowly and cautiously. "Leo.. Rememeber what Spinter says to Raph about his anger. Maybe you should stay in Riley's room and meditate.." Leonardo glared. "The last thing I want to do, is be in _her_ room." Donatello put his hands on his hips. "Yeah, well you can't stay out here. Hun or the purple dragons might see you. The last thing we need is them seeing us over here three times, they'll know something is up. In Riley's room, you'll be alone. You _need_ to meditate right now." There was pleading in Donatello's voice, which made Leonardo sigh and finally give in.

Riley layed on the couch taking a nap when Leonardo came in the window. He glared at her, anger coming back. Donatello put a hand on his shoulder, whispering "It's okay. Go." He pointed down the hall. Leonardo did as his brother said, knowing he was right.

How had he lost control so easy? Raphael said things like that to him all the time, and it never ticked him off. He would brush it off, never thinking about it again. So what about this girl sent him on edge so easily? Why could she make his blood boil after just a few choice words. He clenched his fists as he sat on Riley's floor. He breathed in and out deeply, trying to focus on anything but the girl he just argued with, but it was impossible.

He would hear her voice, telling him all the things he's heard a million times. _Is it because she's a girl, is it because it's someone other than my brother saying it?_ Eventually he was able to push her away, concentrating on _anything_ but her. He had been meditating for an hour or so when vibration broke his meditation. He glanced at Riley's phone on the dresser next to him. He silently cursed to himself before picking the phone up. It was an unsaved number, so he decided to wing it.

"Hello?" He answered. "This is Jarod Hollings, assosiate president from the Chicago Hospital. Are you Miss Jenson?" Leonardo cleared his throat. "No, I'm a.. friend." He made a face at the word. "She isn't here right now. Can I take a message?" There was a long pause, then "Yes, actually. Your name?" Leonardo thought. "Uh.. Leonardo." What harm could that be? "Well.. mister Leonardo. Riley's mother died in a hospital back in Texas, I'm not sure if her aunt and uncle informed her yet." Leonardo instantly felt pitty for the hot headed girl. "No, I don't think they had. She hasn't brought it up." There was another long pause before the man continued. "Well, there's more bad news. Last night her aunt and uncle boarded a plane to return to New York. At 1:56 this morning, that plane crashed." Leonardo swallowed, hoping maybe they were just hurt.

"There were no survivors."

Leonardo felt his stomach drop, how was he supposed to tell her? "Thank you.. I'll inform her." There was a thank you, then a click. He slowly set her phone back to where it was. _God.. What do I do now? _He got up, walking to the living room to find everyone asleep exept Donatello, who was on Riley's laptop. "Donnie.. I need to talk to you."


	5. The Truth Comes Out

Leonardo could hardly breathe as his brother followed him back into Riley's room. Once the door was quietly closed, Donatello turned around to see Leonardo pacing back and forth in the room, an unreadable expression. For a moment, Donatello was worried, but he waited for his eldest brother to speak first. Moving slowly to sit on the bed, he waited patiently. It took a few moments, but his brother finally spoke up.

"Donnie.. I've got a problem, a really big problem.." Donatello could hear the desperation in his voice, which only worried him more. He remained silent, waiting for his brother to continue. "It's.. It's Riley, Donnie." He turned, looking at his younger brother in the eyes, a pleading expression on his face. For a second, Donatello wans't sure what he meant, but then his eyes returned to his brother. "Leo, you don't have... feelings for her, do you?"

Leonardo shook his head, obviously growing more desprate. Anyone else would have never been able to tell, but Donatello was one keen observer. "No, it's not that.." Donatello looked at him, confused. "Well, then what is it? If this is about ealier, we already talked about this. She can't help that she has a problem with you, she only opened her eyes to the bad, not the good. Why is it bothering you, Leo? You never seem bothered by opinions on you. Why is it that-" "Her aunt and uncle are dead, Donnie."

Donatello stopped in mid sentece, unsure of how to react. All he could do was wait for his brother to explain. "Her phone rang, and I answered it.. It was a man.. In a hospital.. Her mother died, and her aunt hadn't told her.. They were on a plane to here to tell her, and to come home.. But it crashed.. She doesn't know, Donnie! How are we going to tell her!" Donatello could tell his brother was holding it together well, but he was just frantic on how to tell this young girl three of her family members she would never see again.

"First off Leo, you have to tell her. You answered the phone, so you have to be the one to tell her." Leonardo closed his eyes, taking a few deep breaths, before pressing his fingers to his temples to continue. "Donnie, she hates me. I can't be the one to tell her." Donatello stood up, placing a hand on his brothers shoulder. "Then make her not hate you." Leonardo looked at him. "How am I supposed to do that?" Donatello shrugged. "Just be Leo." Leonardo scoffed. "Yeah, and look where that got me." Donatello frowned. "Well you're just going to have to try." And with those words, he turned out the door and was gone.

In any other instance, Leonardo would have rushed at his brother, continuing to plead for advice, but Donatello was busy. He was researching and trying to find anything that could help him figure out how to get them home. Leonardo sighed as he opened Riley's window, ready to go meditate on the roof.

The air was cool and crisp, feeling good against Leonardo's warm skin. He quickly looked around, deciding where to place himself, when he saw a small spiral laying open by the shed. He narrowed his eyes, walking up to it. He picked it up, looking at the cover. It read 'Riley's Heart.' He raised an eyebrow, opening the journal, shocked at what he found.

There were drawn pictures and sketches of pixies, teenage girls. They were in the forest, a jungle, a room, or just there. As he flipped the pages, looking at each drawing, he noticed something almost imediatly.

Every picture was a different girl. Wether the face structure, body structure, hair or eyes, no girl held resemblence to another. Although they were different in almost every way, they all held one similarity. In every picture, the girl was alone. She would be looking at the sky, laying on the ground with her eyes closed, sitting in a corner, or sitting with her knees to her chest and her arms lightly wrapped around him. It was the last picture that caught his eye.

It was a girl, with dark curly hair and light eyes. She was staring up at a night sky, the moon to be exact. She wore a smile, yet a single tear fell down her cheek. Leonardo felt something inside him stir, and he had to fight everything in him to turn the next page.

This time he found writings, poems to be exact. As he read them, the pain in his chest became worse and worse. All the poems had to deal with saddness, darkness, and heartbreak. All reffering to one single man who had destroyed her. He sighed, knowing deep inside him she must be talking about her own father. For the first time since he had met the hot-headed brunette, he had found something they had in common. A whole in their hearts, missing their fathers.

Riley fluttered her eyes open. Everyone was sleeping around her. Michelangelo was laying in the middle of the living room floor, cuddling with a teddy bear from her room. She giggled quietly when she saw him sucking his thumb. Raphael was sleeping on the recliner, arms folded across his chest and a scowl on his sleeping face. Donatello was at the kitchen table, laptop still open with his forhead laying against the keyboard. He had no doubt fallen alseep in the middle of research. Looking around still, Riley frowned at herself.

_ Where's Leo?_

Riley imagened him on the roof, training or meditating. She felt instant guilt from last night. She knew what she did was wrong, calling him out like that in front of his brothers, calling out the anger in him he tried so hard to contain. She had only been doing it for him, although she'd never admit it. The kid was holding too much inside, not letting it out. _Like I have room to talk. _She smiled at her self, quietly getting off the couch to go find the blue banded turtle to apologize.

She slowly opened her door, not bothering to knock for two reasons. One, it was her room, and two, she didn't have to worry about him changing, because turtles don't get officialy 'naked.' She wasn't suprised to find her room empty of the turtle, so she knew there was only one other place for him to be. The roof. Although he hated that Donnie said he couldn't leave the house for at least one more night, she knew he would follow his younger brothers rules just to keep him at ease.

She walked to her window, but stopped to grab her phone on the way out. She checked it, having no missed calls or texts. She was suprised, thinking her aunt and uncle should have gotten off the plane by now. She brushed the thought away, figuring they had missed their plane and were waiting until this morning to catch it. Checking the time before she went on the fire escape, her phone read that it was 8:13 am. She wistled, knowing she never got up at this time.

Riley set her phone down, took a deep breath, and climbed up the stairs to find Leonardo sitting in an indian style possition, hands on his knees and eyes closed. She wanted to laugh. She knew this turtle meditated on a daily bases, but it was strange to see it in person. She took the last silent step, waited a few seconds, then spoke as she stepped forward.

"Early riser, I see?" He opened his eyes, looking at her with no emotion on his face. His face looked almost strained, like he was trying to hide whatever emotion he was feeling. Riley winced, assuming he was still upset from last night. He had every right to be.

"Look I just wanted to say.. you know.. I'm sorry for last night. I shouldn't have done that, I just didn't.." He cut her off. "Don't apologize. We all say things we don't mean, it's understandable." Even though there was a hint of strain in his voice, Riley let out a faint smile for the fact he wasn't mad, or at least showing he was mad.

"That doesn't make it okay.." He shook his head. "I never said it was okay. In fact, it was completely not okay. It may not have been okay," he stood up, "but it's forgivable." Riley took a step closer. "Alright, Dicaprio. No hard feelings?" She stuck her hand out, but he didn't take it. Instead, he said "You don't like me, I can accept that."

Riley felt like someone had stapped her stomach with guilt. He really thought she actually _hated_ him. She didn't hate him, she just wanted him to get mad. "I don't not like you, even if I said I did." He raised an eyebrow as she continued. "No, I don't like some of the things you've done or said, but everyone makes mistakes." She put her hand out agian, slightly hesitent this time. He looked at her hand for a few seconds. She was about to pull away, when he wrapped his big, green hand around her own, shaking it.

"Well then we agree to disagree." He said simply. She shook her head. "No, I want to agree to agree. I want to be friends with you, Dicaprio." He looked at her, then nodded. "Okay, then we're.. friends." Riley smiled, then checked her phone again, sighing.

"What is it?" He asked. She shrugged. "My aunt and uncle should have come home by now.. They haven't called or text. I'm going to try to call my aunt." Before he could say anything, she had already dialed the number. It rang and rang, no answer. She sighed, putting the phone back in her pocket. She was about to leave when Leonardo cleared his throat.

"Uhm, Riley.. I need to tell you something." Riley stopped, then turned to him, waiting. He shuffled his feet around, then quietly, but calmly said, "Last night when you were sleeping, your phone rang. I answered it, it was a man from a hospital. Riley, your mom died.."

Riley just looked at him, letting the words sink in. Her mom was _dead_? Her aunt had been telling her that her mother was sick, but she never believed it. For as long as she could remember, her mom had faked many illnesses to get attention. She thought this time had been no different, but she was wrong. She hadn't a chance to speak before he continued.

"There's more.. Your aunt and uncle were on the plane here, they were going to tell you in person. Riley, the plane crashed." Riley looked up at him, her voice was desprate when she whispered, "I.. I have to go see them. What hospital are they in, I'll leave in the next flight!" She waited for him to reply, but he just looked at her. He finally spoke.

"Riley, there were no survivors on that plane." Riley felt her whole world begin to spin. She felt the ground beneith her turn to jelly, and her knees buckle benieth her. She would have fallen strait on her face, if a pair of strong arms hadn't caught her just on time. She was speachless, she had nothing to say. She couldn't speak, she couldn't think, she couldn't feel. She was alone. She had no other family to turn to, she was completely alone.

She felt her eyes begin to sting. _No no no, no I'm not going to cry! Not here, not now! Expecially not in front of someone! _Riley had been through so much in her life, and realizing she was now completely alone was he straw that broke the cammels back. Tears poured down her face before she even knew what was happening. She was crying, almost screaming from the emotional pain that had been locked somewhere deep inside her. It was all pouring out like a water fall, right here, right now. Try as she might, there was nothing she could do to stop it. So she let go, and let the feelings from within pour out of her.

She tried getting away from Leo, but he wouldn't let her. At first his single arm held her, but when her cries began turning into screams, he held her with both, pulling her to him. She knew he didn't care and meant nothing by it, that he was just trying to do the right thing and give her physical support. She didn't care. She didn't want to admit it, but she needed this right now. All her feelings of being alone would only worsen if she was actually left alone to deal with it.

Besides, what was he supposed to do? Just get up and walk away after telling her something like that? She was having a mental break down, only the second she'd had in her life. The first was the night her brother went missing, although it had been much worse than this.

Her cries and pain deepend when she thought of her brother. He was out there alone, some where in this world, he was alone. And it was her fault. She started to cough from crying so hard. "Gone.." She cried. And before she knew it, she was spilling her life story.

"My mom was.. abusive. It got worse after the night.. the night Jacob went missing.." Leo stiffinded, realizing what was happening, but he said nothing and let her go on. "I promised him.. that I'd always protect him.. But they took him.. I told him to do it, to take the trash out.." She was desprately trying to speak between shaking sobs. "He never came back in.. Then my daddy left, but he went on his own. He wasn't taken. He just left.. I moved with my aunt and uncle. I pushed my mom out of my life, and now she's gone. God, now she's gone.." Her sobs were getting worse.

Leo shiffed into a sitting position, sitting her sideways on his lap, holding her close to him. After a few moments of her crying, he finally spoke. "Riley, just becaues you can't see someone with your eyes, doesn't mean they're gone. As long as they're in your heart, they're always with you." His voice was soft, he desprately wanted to comfort her. He could hardly imagine everything this girl had gone through, what she must be feeling right now.

he felt her move slightly, afraid she was going to push him away from her, or run off to God only knows where, or stand up and yell at him how selfish he was, but she didn't. Instead, she threw her arms around him, burying her head into his neck, still crying. He held her tighter, unsure of what was going on for sure. It stayed like this for almost an hour before she began to show signs of calming down.

"I'm sorry.." She whispered into his neck. "I'm so.. so sorry." Her throat felt like it was on fire from all the crying and screaming she had done. "What are you sorry for?" She barely pulled away, only slightly, still having her arms around him. She wouldn't look him in the eye when she said, "Because.. I've never done this before, broke down in front of someone. Hell, I don't even cry.." She was desprate, she was at a loss of reality.

"It's okay to let your emotions out sometimes." She sniffled. "Like you have room to talk." She wasn't challenging him, and he knew it, so he chuckled only slightly. "Yes, I know. But it's the truth." Riley looked up at him for the first time since her melt down had started, to find him looking back.

She then noticed just how beautiful his eyes was in awe at the little amber specks she saw floating around in the carmel pools of his iris. She felt like she was watching one of those videos where they attempt to hyonotise you, but this was actually working.

"Riley.. Riley, are you okay?" Leo's voice brought her back to reality. She shook her head in an attempt to clear her mind of his eyes. She jumped out of his lap, completely embarassed and her cheeks turning red. "I'm sorry, I just-" "Quit apologizing, you've done nothing wrong." His tone told her he was serious about her not needing to apologize for anything. She nodded, sniffiling one last taime as she wiped the last trace of tears from her eyes and face.

"Let's go back in the living room, I bet my brothers are up." He waited for her to walk first. She finally turned around, climbing down the stairs. They walked into the living room to see the three younger turtles crowded around Riley's laptop.

"We found this website called ' .' We've been reading stories about ourselves.." Donnies voice was weary. "Bro, there is some _messed _up stuff in here!" Mikey said with a discusted face, then narrowing his eyes, pointing at the screen. "Donnie, what does this mean?" Donnie's eyes grew wide, and he slammed the laptop shut. "Okay, that's enough for today." He said, setting it to the side, his face was as red at a tomato.

Riley laughed for the first time that morning, thank ful she had these turtles her to keep her smiling.


End file.
